You Owe Me One (a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: Danny tries to finagle a favor from Steve while keeping a secret.


_Sammy's Notes: There are not enough words for me to possibly express my gratitude to Mari and Ilna for all the love and support they've given me over the last month but also for stepping in and covering my stories for me and telling me to take all the time I need to get well. When I went to the ER back in September I honestly thought I was having a small allergic reaction and would be back home a few hours later. As it turned out I was admitted to the hospital for 8 days, discharged for 2, then readmitted for another 10. And it sucked._

 _My words of advice to all of you as I sit here now is that there is NO SUCH THING as a small cut. This whole nightmare started for me with what I thought was an insignificant cut on my shin from the door of the dishwasher. It ended up with a skin infection that covered 85% of my right shin and required 18 days of IV antibiotics so strong that I suffered collapsed veins multiple times and even after they inserted a midline to supposedly handle that issue I developed phlebitis in my arm._

 _I have since come to learn that the door and handle of your dishwasher are two of the germiest places in your kitchen because you often touch them immediately after having touched raw meat._

 _I'm home now and feeling better but still dealing with pain killers that alternate between making me want to throw up and putting me to sleep. Over the last several weeks I've heard nightmare stories from people about how their friends and loved ones have battled cellulitis that make me feel lucky because as bad as I feel like my case has been it could be much, much worse._

 _So please, if you have a cut, not matter how small, that starts to exhibit signs of infection, please don't ignore it an assume a little more Neosporin will do the trick. The pain that comes along with cellulitis is like nothing I could possibly describe to you but suffice it to say it left me sobbing almost to the point of hyperventilating more than once. I would not wish that level of pain on my worst enemy. So please, take any and all signs of infection seriously._

 _That's my soapbox speech for the day. LOL_

 _Also, please forgive me if this one is kind of short. I'm literally working between painkiller doses here and have to get this done before I fall asleep again._

 _Thank you so much for all your well wishes. You guys are the best. And a million THANK YOUS to Mari and Ilna for keeping the train on the tracks when I was unexpectedly unable to write for so many weeks. You guys are the best._

* * *

 **You Owe Me One (1/1)**

"I guess I'll just have to tell Gabby I can't make it," Danny said as he exhaled heavily and leaned back in one of the Adirondack chairs on Steve and Catherine's deck. He adjusted his sunglasses and took the opportunity to cast a surreptitious glance at his best friends to see if his words were having any effect.

"What time is the ceremony?" Steve asked.

Gabby was receiving a very prestigious award for her work curating the collection for the Clifford Trust and he knew it would mean a lot to both her and his best friend if Danny could be there for the ceremony which was being held on the big island.

"Dinner's at 7:00 and the award will be presented right after," Danny answered. "Problem is I'm scheduled to give the annual safety lecture to the Beachcombers Senior Citizens Club next Friday.

Steve rubbed his forehead against an impending headache.

The Beachcombers Seniors were a handful every single year so the members of Five-0 took turns doing the presentation. Whenever it was his turn Steve always left the event embarrassed and exhausted but hoping he had as much spunk as those seniors when he reached their age. Still, he'd given the presentation last year and didn't relish the idea of doing it again so soon. "Did you ask Chin and Kono?"

Danny nodded. "Their cousin is getting married."

"Isn't the presentation in the early afternoon?" Steve asked. "You should be done in plenty of time to make it to the award ceremony."

"Apparently the Beachcombers forgot they have some kind of senior citizens' sailing races scheduled for the same day, so they called and asked if I could come at 2:00 PM instead of noon. What's that all about anyway? Is that even safe? Shouldn't they have a tamer hobby by their age?"

"I think you're forgetting who we're talking about here," Steve smiled.

"They're a pretty lively bunch," Catherine agreed.

"Everything would have been fine if it had gone ahead as scheduled but this little change of plans fouls everything up." Danny paused for effect. "Kind of like when we had to change the date of the trip to Sea Life Park and the sleepover had to be moved to my house."

Danny schooled his features and tried not to grin as he saw Steve and Catherine exchange a slightly guilty look followed by a knowing smile that he was sure had something to do with their activities during their overnight stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village after the Inohe fundraiser was cancelled while he was playing host to a massive sleepover. Activities he didn't want to know anything about. Luckily, he had been spared any innuendo because neither Steve nor Catherine were aware he knew the fundraiser never happened. However, Gabby had heard about the cancellation through her boss, who had been slated to attend the event, and she let Danny know right away.

In that moment he was a little worried Steve and Catherine would insist on moving the sleepover back to the beach house. Even though he might never admit it he'd been looking forward to hosting the event. Of course he would grouse and complain about the noise and the mess and the sheer volume of junk food consumed, but that was just the way he was.

It was his thing.

Truth is, once the decision was made to move the sleepover to his house he'd started making plans and would have been disappointed if they'd fallen through.

But Steve and Catherine didn't need to know that.

Just like they didn't need to know that Gabby's award presentation was actually on Saturday, but that Gabby had made plans to head to the big island a day early for a little private getaway of their own.

Assuming he could get Steve to take over with the Beachcombers that is.

The look on his partner's face told him he was almost there.

Steve dropped his chin to his chest. "I can cover the safety lecture for you. I wouldn't want you to miss Gabby's big night."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Danny said as Grace made her way onto the deck carrying four containers of ice cream. "We'll just call it even then."

"Dessert is here!" she announced happily.

When it was discovered after dinner that Steve and Catherine had no ice cream in their freezer Grace had immediately offered to run out and get some for everyone. Catherine had smiled remembering her same eagerness to run out to the store as often as possible when she was a newly licensed driver.

"Awesome," Danny said as he took the container Grace handed him. "It's nice having another errand runner in the family."

Grace smiled at her father. "What are you calling even?"

"Uncle Steve is gonna cover your father's presentation next Friday so he doesn't miss Gabby's award ceremony," Catherine explained as she took the lid off her two scoops of caramel swirl.

"That's nice of you, Uncle Steve." Grace beamed as she handed him his lime sherbet. "Gabby showed me the brochure for the hotel she wants to book. They have the most amazing spa. She said they'll probably spend their whole extra day getting wraps and massages and stuff."

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "Extra day?"

"Well … um … huh .." Danny took a large bite of ice cream to buy himself some time. "Did I forget to mention that the awards ceremony is actually on Saturday, but that Gabby wants to head over to the big island a day early?"

"Yes." Steve pinned his partner with a look. "You definitely forgot to mention that. In fact, you left me with the distinct impression that Gabby's awards thing was Friday night."

"Did I?" Danny's voice went up an octave.

"Yes," Steve said sternly. "You did."

"Huh." Danny took another bite then said around the frozen treat in his mouth, "I didn't realize I'd done that."

Grace looked at Catherine, ready to share another exasperated look with her aunt over the antics of her father and her favorite uncle but instead saw Catherine sharing a meaningful look with Steve.

After a second Catherine cleared her throat. "Listen, Danny, the truth of the matter is the Inohe fundraiser was cancelled the night of the sleep over but since the plans were already set to have it at your house we spent the night at the Hilton instead. So, we kind of owe you this one."

Danny's attempts to look shocked at the news were derailed by his own daughter who said, "Danno knew the fundraiser was cancelled that night. Gabby told him. When he heard he was worried you were gonna ask to move the sleepover back here because he was really looking forward to having it at our house."

"Oh, was he?" Steve cocked an eyebrow.

"Hey, don't give me that look." Danny sat up straight. "You two were the ones who lied to me about where you were that night."

"We never lied," Catherine insisted. "You never asked exactly where we were or how the fundraiser was going or who was there which, now that I think about it, was definitely out of character for you."

"He'd already figured out where we'd have to move the furniture to build the fort," Grace snorted. "He really wanted to have the party at our house."

Steve shook his head. "So, the truth comes out," he teased.

"Fine." Danny placed his ice cream on the deck by his feet and crossed his arms. "I guess this means you're not gonna cover the Beachcombers thing for me."

"Oh, I'll still cover it for you," Steve smirked, "Only difference is that this is no longer a case of me returning a favor. Since I know you wanted to host the sleepover that means you owe me one for covering for you."

"What? How can … that's ridicu … " Danny waved his arms and began to work up lather but then thought of the brochure Gabby had shown him. "Fine." He sighed. "I owe you one."

 **THE END**

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